Table Of ContentEmerging Issues in Family and Individual Resilience
Mike Stout
Amanda W. Harrist Editors
Building
Community
and Family
Resilience
Research, Policy, and Programs
Emerging Issues in Family and Individual
Resilience
Series Editors
Amanda W. Harrist
Stephan M. Wilson
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13415
Mike Stout • Amanda W. Harrist
Editors
Building Community
and Family Resilience
Research, Policy, and Programs
Editors
Mike Stout Amanda W. Harrist
Center for Public Life Center for Family Resilience
Oklahoma State University - Tulsa Oklahoma State University
Tulsa, OK, USA Stillwater, OK, USA
ISSN 2366-6072 ISSN 2366-6080 (electronic)
Emerging Issues in Family and Individual Resilience
ISBN 978-3-030-49798-9 ISBN 978-3-030-49799-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49799-6
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
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Preface
For Emerging Issues in Individual and Family Resilience: Volume 4, we have invited
scholars and practitioners to share their work as it relates to ways resilient commu-
nities can build resilient families and vice versa. Taken together, the research and
programs described in this volume help to illustrate the micro-, meso-, and macro-
level factors that contribute to the development of family and community resilience.
As the science of resilience has evolved over time, there has been an increased focus
on the important role that social context, or environment, plays with regard to indi-
vidual and family resilience. Communities consist of an ecosystem of interrelated
and overlapping individual and organizational networks, and community-level poli-
cies and programs facilitate the distribution of resources, assets, and opportunities
that provide valuable assistance to families who are struggling or in crisis due to
economic hardship, mental illness, or the effects of natural and human-made disas-
ters. Scholars from several disciplines and representatives of local government and
community agencies who are on the “front lines” of developing policies and pro-
grams to assist families provide valuable context for understanding the science on
the ways communities provide an environment that encourages and nurtures family
resilience, as well as factors that foster resilience at the community level.
Each chapter in this edited volume presents research- and practice-based knowl-
edge about community or family resilience. Chapters were written by practitioners
and scholars who present a diverse set of perspectives on different facets of com-
munity and family resilience. It is our hope that the information presented in the
book will facilitate the development of evidence-based resilience practices, pro-
grams, and/or policies for those working with families from at-risk communities.
In Chap. 1, Dr. Karabi Bezboruah approaches the relationship between resil-
ience and community development using the ecological framework of human
development, which takes a systems approach to understanding development initia-
tives. First, she discusses the relevant interdisciplinary literature on community
development. Second, she applies an ecological framework to understand the
mutual interactions and influences among the various layers of the system. Finally,
she discusses the ways structures and institutions can build resilient communities
and argues that community development for resilience should be context-specific
v
vi Preface
and customized to local historical, social, and cultural conditions. She makes a
compelling case that community development and resilience are most likely to be
successful when development planning and processes are participatory and collab-
orative with continuous feedback from local residents, change champions, and
community-based organizations.
In Chap. 2, Dr. Ronald Beer describes three programs that illustrate how family
resilience can be facilitated through community participation, and how that, in turn,
can build more resilient communities. Beer argues that by addressing three basic
human needs—access to adequate and nutritious food, safe and decent shelter, and
basic health care—individuals and families can thrive and be resilient, even in the
face of sudden or chronic adversities. He describes three programs that he has
helped spear-head, each of which helps to address basic needs locally and abroad:
Habitat for Humanity; Our Daily Bread; and Mozambique Development in Motion.
He emphasizes the important role of community participation by individual volun-
teers, faith-based groups, community advisory boards, social service agencies, local
businesses, and civic organizations plays in helping families meet their basic needs.
His discussion emphasizes that certain attitudes and commitments are necessary
underlying personal qualities needed to affect and sustain community, family, and
individual resilience.
The concept of family resilience raises the question of how family units adapt to
external shocks like human-made and natural disasters. Research suggests that
disasters are occurring with greater frequency and severity throughout the world.
Natural and human-made disasters pose an ongoing threat to positive family func-
tioning everywhere, which makes it helpful to understand the importance of com-
munity disaster resilience for research and practice concerning family well-being.
In Chap. 3, the authors examine the issue of family resilience in the context of a
human-made disaster. They begin by articulating what is meant by hazards and
disasters and how that links to family resilience, and they stress the importance of
adaptive capacity and trajectories over time. They then discuss ongoing research
related to the Resilient Children Youth and Communities (RCYC) Project, a joint
venture between researchers at Louisiana State University (LSU) and Columbia
University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) concerning family
resilience in the context of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Resilient cities are able to adapt to unexpected events and changes in culture,
climate, and migration. More than half of the world’s population currently live in
urban areas, with the percentage of people living in urban areas predicted to grow in
the future. These growing cities face ongoing threats, both human-made and natu-
ral. Historical, social, and economic inequalities make thriving during threats a
challenge for cities. Natural disasters and economic pressures put stress on cities’
limited resources and test their residents resolve. Impacts of these threats can result
in historical traumas that span generations. In Chap. 4, Patrick Grayshaw discusses
the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Program and provides a case
study of the program as it has been implemented in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also pro-
vides an overview and discussion of community resilience in the context of cities,
as well as a description of the Resilient Cities Network.
Preface vii
Toxic stress, chronic adversity, and trauma—particularly when experienced early
in life—can have far-reaching and long-lasting negative impacts on a number of
outcomes for individuals and families. Biological, cognitive, and relational adversi-
ties stemming from past traumas can contribute to additional traumatic experiences
that cascade over time. Resilient individuals are able to positively adapt despite
experiencing one or more adversities. Research suggests promoting resilience
among adults reduces behavioral risks, but requires intervention programming that
(1) increases access to social support and formal services; (2) provides treatment for
childhood trauma and other risk factors; and (3) provides a diverse array of indi-
vidualized intervention options including addiction treatment. The impacts of
adversity and trauma can be seen in men and women; however, women may be
especially vulnerable due to experiencing disproportionately higher rates of child
abuse and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), as well as being particu-
larly susceptible to negative physical and mental health outcomes. In Chap. 5, the
authors describe the prevalence and impact of trauma and ACEs on women and
outline strategies for trauma-informed programming to disrupt cascades of adver-
sity and promote women’s resilience.
In Chap. 6, Michelle Schaecher and Dr. Amanda Harrist describe how resilience
is fostered in an elementary school in Payne County, Oklahoma, whose student
population is exposed to multiple risk factors and has experienced high levels of
trauma. As the state of Oklahoma, Payne County, and local school districts have
recently become engaged and educated about ACEs and resilience, they are moving
toward garnering support systems, developing programs, and enacting a new way of
seeing students through a trauma-informed lens that emphasizes the importance of
relationships and emotional regulation. The authors propose and illustrate a two-
pronged approach to building resilience at both the school and child levels that
emphasizes school climate and focuses on skill building among the students.
Chapter 7 is a sociological exploration of the relationship between community
and family resilience. In this chapter, family resilience refers to the ability of fami-
lies to spring back or recover from external stressors or challenges such as racism,
poverty, unemployment, homelessness, or food insecurity. Humans have lived in
communities throughout history because communities help humans address key
life-sustaining issues like providing adequate food, shelter, and protection better
collectively than they can individually. Communities are, in short, human associa-
tions for problem-solving. In Chap. 7, Dr. John B. Harms argues that many larger
social problems manifest themselves in families at the local level, and that under-
standing communities can help strengthen families. Drawing on social capital the-
ory and methodology, Harms discusses how to conceptualize community so that it
can address public problem-solving and promote resilient families. He describes
communities as networks of associations and relationships characterized by norms
of trust and reciprocity. Community networks are important because vital resources
are located in them, and their structural characteristics affect people’s ability to
locate and mobilize resources to solve community problems. Harms presents a
number of network concepts and models to illustrate how network characteristics
influence community problem-solving, and he provides a case study of food
viii Preface
insecurity in Springfield, Missouri, to show how one community has intentionally
structured its networks to enhance problem-solving in the face of poverty-related
stressors.
Finally, this preface is being written in the midst of the COVID-19 global pan-
demic. We are sure to learn lessons in the coming days about the resilience of our
families and communities. It is our hope that those lessons will inform public pol-
icy, programs, and best practices to support even greater resilience in the future.
Tulsa, OK, USA Mike Stout
Stillwater, OK, USA Amanda W. Harrist
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Department of Human Development and Family Science
at Oklahoma State University (OSU) for supporting the 2018 Chautauqua on Family
Resilience, the conference that brought these outstanding scholars and practitioners
together to focus on what it means to be a resilient community and how communi-
ties can build resilient individuals. Several speakers—mostly CEEs and CEOs—
were not able to write chapters for this volume but provided stimulating ideas and
conversation that influenced all those in attendance; these included Gail Lapidus
and Mimi Tarrasch from Tulsa’s Family & Children’s Services, Reggie Ivey from
the Tulsa Health Department, DeVon Douglass from the Tulsa Mayor’s office, and
Michael Brose from the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma.
We also would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Michael Merten, Director of
OSU’s Center for Family Resilience (CFR), for his ongoing support of this project,
and the following graduate students who conducted the interviews that are pre-
sented as Breakout Boxes in each chapter: Machele Anderson (OSU), Madisen
Busenbark (OSU), Ashley Harvey (OSU), Ethan Jones (Texas Tech University),
Alexis Lamb (OSU), Meaghan Tipton (University of Arkansas), and Mackenzie
Webb (OSU). Finally, we would like to acknowledge Tia Claybrook, an OSU gradu-
ate student who took care of every little detail we needed help with.
ix
Contents
1 Building and Strengthening Communities: What Works?
What Doesn’t? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Karabi Bezboruah
2 Developing Individual and Family Resilience Through
Community-Based Missions: Three Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Ronald Beer
3 Family Resilience Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill:
Theory and Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Tim Slack, Jaishree Beedasy, Thomas Chandler, Kathryn Sweet
Keating, Jonathan Sury, and Jeremy Brooks
4 Resilient Cities: A Case Study of Tulsa, Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Patrick D. Grayshaw
5 Resilience in Women: Disrupting Cascades of Adversity
with Trauma-Informed Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Amanda Williams, Jennifer Becnel, Zachary Giano, Kali Weber, and
Mary Wyandt-Hiebert
6 Schools as Resilient Communities Building Resilience
in Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Michelle H. Schaecher and Amanda W. Harrist
7 Community Context and Family Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
John B. Harms
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
xi
